An invitation from Boice on a serious subject

Nobody knew exactly why they were invited to a luncheon given by Yvonne Boice, but they knew the subject would be important.

In fact it was, asking 20 or so high-profile Boca Raton women to think about forming a South Florida committee for the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network based in Washington.

Boice, a Boca Raton philanthropist and Boca Del Mar travel agency and shopping center owner, already has her hand in a lot of local charity pies. On May 8 she introduced Andrea "Andy" Bottner as a friend who she met at the International Women's Summit in Berlin, and who came in from the capital on a mission.

A former appointee to the Office of International Women's Issues under Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Bottner has been working for RAINN for more than two years. Started in 1994, the organization partners with campuses and more recently the Defense Department, and has hotlines for men and women who want to talk by phone or online about being assaulted and what they can do about it.

"Half are under 18, and college-age women are four times as likely," to be affected, she said. The group had 5,500 calls from Florida and 50,000 Florida visitors to the website, so they knew it was time to do something locally.

Some 15 out of 16 rapists "don't spend a day in jail," and DNA evidence is now finding there are usually other victims, she added at the luncheon at the Boca Raton Resort & Club.

"It's a hard issue to talk about, but so was breast cancer once," Bottner said. "Our long-term goal is to get to the point where rape is a crime and there should be no shame attached to it."

RAINN works with 38 rape crisis centers in the state to get people who were assaulted the help them need, Bottner added.

"Let's say they find you. What do you do?" asked Arlene Herson, a talk show host on several national boards.

"We have trained counselors," Bottner said, and Boice mentioned support services run by Aid to Victims of Aids of Domestic Violence.

The subject prompted a discussion, and more than one woman had a story. A guest said a family member was date raped and and drugged, and talked out of pressing charges.

Now girls are being sexualized on TV and in social media, and there was just a story in the news about 10-year-old boys who allegedly attacked a toddler, Boice's publicist Kay Renz pointed out.

"Why are we sweeping this under the rug when this is the second most violent crime?" Bottner said.

The online hotline is rainn.org and the National Sexual Assault Hotline is 800-656-4673.